CHAP. I.-SAN BEPOEE THE EMPIEE. 
5 
as beloved of Ptah (inscrip. 8 a), and a remark¬ 
able group surrounds the so-called “ banner ”* of 
the king. The greater part of the lower inscrip¬ 
tion has been hammered out by Merenptah I., 
in order to substitute a barren repetition of his 
own name in the rudest style, only the small 
strip of old titles being left in the middle. On 
the side of the throne (3 b) Merenptah has made 
a similar defacement, but the old group of the 
upper and lower Niles here appears perhaps for 
the first time ; though the stems of the lotus 
and papyrus are shown twisted around the sam 
on the throne of Khafra, in the fourth dynasty. 
On the front of the throne are two strips of 
inscription (3 o, 3 d), which show Amenemhat as 
beloved of Ptah of the Southern Eampart, (Mem¬ 
phis) and Ptah Sokar. Along the base of the 
throne is dn added inscription of Merenptah; the 
other side I did not see, as the statue is lying on it. 
It seems certain that Amenemhat I. built a 
temple here, as his statue was doubtless placed 
in some large building, and there are many frag¬ 
ments of columns of red granite which appear to 
belong to him. They have been re-used in the 
colonnade in front of the sanctuary as late as 
Siamen, but are evidently of far earlier work. In 
the first place, they are clustered lotus columns, 
like those of Beni Hasan, a fact which almost 
assigns them to the twelfth dynasty; then they are 
polished far more brilliantly than any work after 
that period, and the delicacy with which the lines 
of the leaves around each stem are shown is of 
* This form of title is usually called a banner ; but it is 
really a false door, the insorijjtiou being the king’s name on 
the panel over the door, and the so-called fringe representing 
the panelling on either side of the doorway. The earliest 
examples are a pot-Ud of Senefru in Bulak, on which is dis¬ 
tinctly a false door with the drum, the stripes of panelhug, 
the architrave, and panel above it; and the tablet of Senefru 
at Wady Maghara, where it is far more like panelling than a 
fringe. On the tablet of Menkaura at Wady Maghara the 
details of the stripes of panelling are shown unmistakeably, 
like the false doors of the early tombs. Even though the 
form became conventionally uniform, we stiU find a variation 
appearing as late as Ramessu II. at San (on the side of the 
triad inscrip. 43 a), which is certainly a doorway rather than 
any sort of fringe. 
the finest style; while, finally, the colour of the 
granite is of the same dull vermilion brick-red 
as the statue of Amenemhat I. It is impossible to 
assign them to the Eamesside, or any late period. 
7. The next king, Usertesen I., added his 
statue to the magnificent temple of his pre¬ 
decessor (Plan, 101); but instead of red granite 
it is in black granite, and of the highest possible 
finish and brilliancy. The inscriptions are cut 
most delicately, and the polish in the hollows 
of all the hieroglyphics is as fine as on the 
general surface. On the top and front of the 
throne are two lines running down each side 
(4 0, d), and the sides of the throne were orna¬ 
mented with the same figures as the statue of 
Amenemhat (4 b). On the back is an inscrip¬ 
tion of Merenptah (4 a) in better style than is 
usual for him ; the engraver was perhaps shamed 
into good work by the magnificence of the statue 
he was defacing; but on the shoulder is ham¬ 
mered in on the glass-like surface the car¬ 
touche of Merenptah. The statue itself has 
been broken at the chest; and the body is much 
flaked, and the head bruised (pi. xiii. 2). The 
fellow statue is now in Berlin. 
8. To Amenemhat II., the successor of User¬ 
tesen, may be ascribed another colossus in black 
granite (Plan, 97). This is almost equal in finish 
to the last statue, and it is far more remarkable, 
having no back pilaster to the figure, which is 
wrought all round (pi. xiii. 3). It is the only 
Egyptian statue without a back support, so far 
as I know. The head is lost, and the torso 
is broken from the throne. The sides of the 
throne bore the old group of the two Niles, 
holding the lotus and papyrus twisted on the 
sam (pi. xiii. 4J; and the front a strip of inscription, 
of which only a part remains (inscrip. 5 a, b, c). 
Merenptah I. has appropriated the back and 
lower part of the throne, and has hacked in 
a monstrous cartouche on the chest of the torso. 
Though no trace of the king’s name remains, 
it is certain that this statue must belong to the 
